Joerg Chet Tremmel - Climate Change, Justice, and Future Generations

Part of the Climate Change and Environment Seminar Series (Lent term 2011).

Speaker: Joerg Chet Tremmel, University of Tuebingen, Germany and Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

Abstract of seminar

Next to the expanding bookshelves in the natural sciences and in political science, there is a growing library written by the new breed of ‘climate ethicists’ (Broome, Caney, Jamieson, Gardiner, Gosseries, Meyer, Ott, Page, Shue, Singer, Sunstein, Vanderheiden, to mention only a few) on the ethics of climate policy.

This comes as no surprise when we consider that anthropocentric climate change is one of the greatest problems for the future of mankind. Its impacts are potentially catastrophic and this implies that existing political institutions need to be changed.

Moral arguments have played an important role at every round of the political climate talks so far and this will not change in the future. World leaders could not ignore moral arguments, even if they wanted to, because they act under the public eye. But it is far from obvious what is the right route to take from a purely moral point of view.

Climate change poses a serious problem for established ethical theories. This talk outlined the ethical intricacies and evaluate the normative justifications brought forward by the participants of international climate negotiations.

Biography of Professor Joerg Chet Tremmel

Joerg is a PhD Associate Professor at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, as well as a Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Joerg has two PhDs: one in Philosophy from the University of Düsseldorf (2008); and one in Sociology from the University of Stuttgart (2005).

He also has an MA in Political Science from Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University of Frankfurt (2003), and an MBA in economics from the European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel (1998).

His research interests include:

• Applied ethics (especially intergenerational justice, climate ethics;
• ‘Shorttermism’ of political and business systems;
• Epistemology.